Semper
by Leevee
Summary: Four drabbles on four knights. Insights on Bors, Dagonet, Tristan and Lancelot.
1. Semper Eadem

Series: Semper (1/4)  
Rating: PG  
Length: Drabble  
Character: Bors  
Notes: Would have been better, but Bors doesn't do melancholy very well. Takes place before going to rescue the bishop. "Semper eadum" means "always the same".

* * *

Semper Eadum: Bors

He was probably the only of the knights who didn't mind the lifestyle – excepting Tristan, of course, but who really knew what went on in Tristan's head? Probably because he had the most memories of their "homeland", having lived sixteen winters before the Roman legionnaires had been able to find his well-hidden village and had done their usual murdering and burning before taking the boys. He remembered the freezing cold – every season, every week, every day, every hour. So he wasn't too disturbed by leaving the village behind.

That had been over fifteen years ago, and he hadn't missed it since. He had met Vanora, had some odd dozens of little bastards running around, he liked his life. And now that the term of service was coming up, he wouldn't have to go through the hassle of the endless battles. He would stay at the fortress at Hadrian's Wall, of course, he was far too well established there to bother leaving. The knights already controlled most of the land around that point, and everyone else except for Dagonet would be heading to either Sarmatia or Rome when they got their papers.

Yes, life was – and would be – good in Briton.


	2. Semper Verus

Series: Semper (2/4)  
Rating: PG  
Length: Drabble  
Character: Dagonet  
Notes: Takes place some point between the village and the ice. Title means 'always true'.

* * *

Semper Verus: Dagonet

He had never been the brightest of the knights, and he accepted that with grace, knowing that he could more than carry his own in battle. He had no special women; no army of bastards, like Bors; nor a hawk, like Tristan. He had left no mark on the world, no one to remember him by since his and Bors' village had been burned to the ground when they had been collected. The other knights would remember him, of course, but there were so many long passed on to remember, and the lifespan for the others wasn't very long in any case. In twenty, or as short as ten, years, no one would remember him or the things he had done, except in the capacity of one of the knights.

And he had never minded. He had never desired to be famous, or to be known. He had never wanted to leave anything behind other than the knowledge he had lived a full life. But in this moment, looking down at the small boy he cradled in his arms, he suddenly wanted to be remembered, to have someone care if died. And he had found that someone in the boy.


	3. Semper Vigilans

Series: Semper (3/4)  
Rating: PG  
Length: Drabble  
Character: Tristan  
Notes: Title means 'always vigilant'. Takes place after the village evacuation, and before the ice scene. Simargl is the name of what was possibly a Sarmatian war god who was depicted as a griffin.

* * *

Semper Vigilans: Tristan

He whistled softly and lowly at the circling hawk, keeping an eye on the scouting party at the bottom of the hill. The lead scout glanced up sharply and he pulled back, the tree branches hiding him again. The Saxon scout was good; perhaps even a match for him. It was a good feeling, that of a challenge. It had been a while since he had had to work so hard to keep from being noticed – it must have been when he was still a child, playing child's games in the vast rolling plains. There was no point in trying to hide from the Woads, they knew the forests better than he knew his trade.

The hawk, Simargl, landed on his master's wrist and flicked his head towards the oncoming army. Tristan nodded back and fed him a scrap of meat. Simargl gulped it down hungrily and took off again, this time heading away from the Saxons. Tristan climbed out of the tree to where his horse waited silently. He mounted, and nudged him gently. He had to warn the camp, the preliminary scouts were less than fifteen minutes away and the bulk of the men not too far behind.


	4. Semper Victor

Series: Semper (4/4)  
Rating: PG  
Length: Drabble  
Character: Lancelot  
Notes: Title means 'always the victor'. Takes place at the very beginning of the film, when the legionnaires came to Lancelot's village. Some lines make me think that some, if not all, of the knights left came from the same village as Lancelot (like "I have known these men since their first steps, we played together, learned to ride together", or something to that effect), hence some of the lines here.

* * *

Semper Victor: Lancelot

It would only been a matter of time before the Romans found the village; they had all known that from the beginning. Some of the men protested, saying they could fight the Romans, but Lancelot knew that it would be pointless. Kill one soldier, and twenty would fill his place. So he stepped forward and volunteered to go. The other boys over ten, the age of enlistment, quickly spoke up as well. None of them wanted to appear weak or afraid. Their mothers and sisters cried, and the fathers were frustrated by their inability to protect their families.

When the Romans came up, Lancelot and the other boys were already mounted and ready to go. Elaine broke away from the gaggle of the village and pressed something into Lancelot's hand. It was her lion pendant, he realized. He gave his family brave words about returning, and then they left. "How long will we be gone?" he asked of the closest legionnaire. The man gave him an indiscernible look. "Fifteen years. Not counting the months it will take to reach your post." Lancelot swallowed. Some boys would return, they had to. But he felt that he would not be among them.


End file.
